Showing posts with label Murder of crows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Murder of crows. Show all posts

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Murder on the dance floor



Why are are group of crows called a murder? Answers on a post card please.
It's harder than I thought catching the character of a crow. I have spent this afternoon making sketches from a few photos I took the other day. Also been flicking through books. I want my crows to look scruffy, like the ones portayed in Native American art, rather than like the sleek oriental birds sitting in Cherry blossom. I love the way their wing feather tips curl up at the ends like fingers, and their untidy neck feathers.


 There is Buddha Nature only when a swan is white, a crow is black, a human being is a human being. - Shunryu Suzuki Roshi


I used my calligraphy brushes loaded with cheap poster paint on lining wall paper to rough out some shapes. But the lines are too smooth, I want them to look more frayed. Not altogether successful, so more practice me thinks !